Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Christmas

[jchau]

My wife was born in December so I am looking to get her a matching blue gemstone earring and necklace for Christmas. Is topaz my best choice? What are some recommended online vendors? I did a search through several vendors and price vary ALOT. I learned how to price out diamonds here...is it about the same for gemstones? Sorry for all the noob questions but this is my first time purchasing a gemstone. Budget is $1,000.

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

Welcome jchau. Your question is very open ended and it would help if you could narrow down what your expectations are for the pieces. What shade of blue, what size, what metal, style, etc. What shade of blue will help narrow what type of stone is a good candidate. The size of that type of stone will narrow down the price...and so forth.

Here is a thread of blue stones to get you started.
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/colored-stone-engagement-ring-love-blue-stones.155607/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/colored-stone-engagement-ring-love-blue-stones.155607/[/URL]

You can do a search on each of the blue stones (e.g. sapphire, tourmaline) on the PS search engine to read threads about each stone.

 

[jchau]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

Looking back at my original post, it IS very open ended. Sorry for that. Here are the specs:

Color - light blue (like baby blue). Not dark blue.
Size - NA since I am not specifically looking for a pendant. It could be a pendant earring and necklace but not required.
Style - Modern and clean. Not traditional or old style. This applies to the entire jewelry piece, not just the stone.

I think what I am looking for is just a list of recommended online vendors. I tried looking at the vendors on pricescope but they are mostly for diamonds. I have searched on Blue Nile, James Allen, and Whiteflash as those were the vendors I looked at when shopping for a diamond ring. However, they have very limited selection of colored gems.

I hope this helps...

 

[rubybeth]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

OneGarnetGirl on Etsy has some nice blue topaz pieces in sterling silver that match but aren't too 'matchy,' and are definitely within budget.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62283648/sky-blue-9mm-stud-earrings-in-argentium

http://www.etsy.com/listing/48449641/shine-on-necklace-in-sky-blue-topaz-and

ETA: as does Daniel M on Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/63127327/rainbow-bezel-earrings

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47087558/rainbow-bezels-sliding-bezel-pendant

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

Some other popular PS Etsy vendors with modern looking finished items:

Adzia: aquamarine and diamond in 14K white gold--over your price range, but it's with diamonds in 14K gold:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/50322086/14k-white-gold-aquamarine-diamond-swirly?ga_search_query=aquamarine&ga_search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5515116

Julia Kay Taylor: earring and necklace set--topaz in argentium silver:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/86039125/argentium-silver-trillium-flower-set
1 year wait time for custom work, but she has things already made listed online.

Sally, Heart of water: aquamarine earrings and pendant in 18K yellow gold:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/19171045/natural-aquamarine-and-18k-gold-handmade?ga_search_query=aquamarine&ga_search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5396217
You could also ask Sally to make something similar in silver.

These 3 Etsy vendors also do custom work.

Here is the "sticky" post for colored gemstone and jewelry vendors:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/sites-selling-colored-gemstones-and-jewelry.94723/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/sites-selling-colored-gemstones-and-jewelry.94723/[/URL]

A lot of these vendors focus on loose stones. Many posters here buy loose stones and set them, just like over in RockyTalky.

 

[Pandora II]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

Blue topaz will be the cheapest and probably the easiest to find, you can get good big sizes as well. It is almost invariably irradiated (totally safe) but if you have issues with treatments, it's worth knowing

Blue aquamarine is another choice but in good colours is pricey. Most is also heat-treated.

Blue zircon is another choice - again heated, but you get amazing diamond like dispersion and it's ideal for pendants, necklaces and earrings. Zircon is not the same as Cubic Zirconia which is a man-made diamond simulant, Zircon is a natural stone.

The most expensive option and hardest to find would be blue sapphires.

There are other blue stones, but they are all quite rare and I wouldn't recommend them in this case.

 

[jchau]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

Thanks everyone! I did go through the list of vendors in the sticky post before but all of them sell just the stone. I was hoping to get the stone and setting in one. But is that stupid of me to do that? It seems like blue topaz is a pretty cheap stone. Looking at some of the blue topaz jewelry on Blue Niles, they seem pretty higher considering the size of the stone.

http://www.bluenile.com/blue-topaz-earrings_17191 - $310 (stone themselves can't be worth more than $50?)

I also stumbled upon JewelsForMe which has a wide assortment of gemstone jewelry. A quick search for JewelsForMe turned up less than 10 posts so I am unsure of their quality. So for those that get just the stone, where do you go for the setting?

 

[ooo~Shiney!]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

jchau, Hi.
$1,000.00 is very generous and do-able.

Did you not click on pregcurious and rubybeth's links?
Those were some great examples of vendors who offer the stones already set ......
Also, those vendors are capable of making what you want, in a design you like, and they can furnish the stones too.
I have a December birthday, and admire the examples in all those links,
but you can look through their other stuff and just ask them to make something you
like with a blue topaz, zircon or even blue moonstone *(I have blue moonstone, and love it).

 

[rubybeth]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

Thanks everyone! I did go through the list of vendors in the sticky post before but all of them sell just the stone. I was hoping to get the stone and setting in one. But is that stupid of me to do that? It seems like blue topaz is a pretty cheap stone. Looking at some of the blue topaz jewelry on Blue Niles, they seem pretty higher considering the size of the stone.

http://www.bluenile.com/blue-topaz-earrings_17191 - $310 (stone themselves can't be worth more than $50?)

I also stumbled upon JewelsForMe which has a wide assortment of gemstone jewelry. A quick search for JewelsForMe turned up less than 10 posts so I am unsure of their quality. So for those that get just the stone, where do you go for the setting?

Gold is very high right now, so a big part of the cost is going to the metal. If you go with silver like in my previous post, you'll pay less. You're right, though, that the stones aren't expensive for blue topaz.

I'd avoid JewelsForMe--I've looked at their site before, and I don't think the photos are actually of their work, just photoshopped with whatever gem color you click.

For stone and setting together, check out pregcurious's post and mine (above).

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

The 5 Etsy vendors mentioned above are routinely recommended on this forum for ready-made and custom pieces. The vendors you mention are ones that produce jewelry for a mass market. Are you not comfortable with Etsy, or buying from/working with artisans?

Both here and on Rockytalky, users tend to like to chose the best stone first, then have it set. Colored stone jewelry is much lower volume, and can be affordable if lower cost stones are used (like blue topaz), which is why a place like Etsy actually has high quality jewelry when it comes to inexpensive stones. For blue topaz, I think it is the right fit.

For expensive colored stones, many PSers go with larger vendors, but it is similar process as you will go through with an Etsy vendor. For example, with Whiteflash, you can either bring them a stone, or have them source it for you. (For an inexpensive stone like a blue topaz, financially this not make sense.) WF has set several stones for users in this forum based on custom projects. Here is a trio of colored stone rings:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/trio-of-whiteflash-rings-in-red-orange-and-green-sort-of.165556/#post-3015797#p3015797']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/trio-of-whiteflash-rings-in-red-orange-and-green-sort-of.165556/#post-3015797#p3015797[/URL]

Here is another pieces for Adzia--a blue topaz ring with a diamond halo. It is in your budget, but I don't know if you're open to rings:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/55191776/14k-white-gold-blue-topaz-micro-pave

 

[jchau]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

I did look at the etsy links but you are right in that I am uncomfortable with shopping on etsy. It's kind of ironic because my sister actually sells crystal jewelry on etsy. I will do some more search on etsy now that you mention other people on this forum use them routinely. Thanks so much! I am in much better shape than 2 weeks ago!

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

Good luck, jchau. You can do a search for reviews on the Etsy vendors by just putting their names into the Pricescope search engine.

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

Also, please post what you decide on. Perhaps we will learn of a new vendor, or you can write a review about your experience to help other members.

 

[jchau]

Re: Need to find blue matching earring and necklace by Chris

Well, I had the perfect earring and matching necklace picked out at ice.com. Was about to check out when I realized it was only 10k white gold. My wife has very sensitive skin so 10k white gold wont do. After doing some more research, I realize the best metal for her is platinum. Gemvara.com sells platinum blue topaz earrings but they are about 4x the cost of Ice.com. Sad sad day for me.

http://www.ice.com/earrings/gemstone-earring-prd_ecx_121235.jsp

Edit: After searching on etsy for many hours, I did not find a style I like. So I started goin down the list of sponsored vendors for diamonds as some of them also sell gem jewelries too.